Djibouti's Ministry of Islamic Affairs,
Culture and Waqf and the Somali-Speaking PEN Centre of Djibouti held an
opening ceremony Wednesday (June 26th) for the first regional Somali
language academy, Djibouti's La Nation reported.

Minister of Islamic affairs Aden Hassan Aden, Somalia's Minister of
Information, Posts and Telecommunications Abdullahi Ilmoge Hirsi,
Somaliland regional Minister of Culture Abiib Diriye Nur and Vice
President of the Somali region of Ethiopia Abdihakim Igal Omar attended
the event at the Kempinski Hotel in Djibouti, as did about 50 prominent
Somali-speaking intellectuals from the region and abroad.

President Ismail Omar Guelleh met with the visiting officials before
the ceremony to commend their efforts towards the preservation of the
Somali language.